A late USA run powered them past Canada in a down-to-the-wire defensive battle.
August 16, 2025 by Sean Colfer in Recap
Ultiworld’s World Games 2025 coverage is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season. The World Games is operated by the International World Games Association in collaboration with the World Flying Disc Federation.
The final day of the World Games was exactly as dramatic as everyone had hoped it would be. Australia completed its comeback from a difficult pool stage to take fifth, defeating Colombia 13-11 after being up 7-1 at half. Japan held on to defeat home team China 13-12 in the seventh-place game, robbing the home crowd of what would have been a famous victory.
But the show match was the one with the gold medal on the line, featuring North American cousins USA and Canada. In a back and forth contest that came down to universe point, USA pulled out the victory 13-12 to take home another grand prize.
USA Triumphs in Blockbuster Finish
The game started with a bang, a four-turn point featuring blocks from Florence Dionne, Mark Lloyd, and Raphy Hayes. In the end Hayes found Claire Chastain for the first hold of the game. After a quick Canadian hold, the US gave up another chance when Chris Kocher’s deep shot looked like it was intended for Mika Kuruhashi. Claire Trop got it back only for Kami Groom to drop a tough catch on the sideline. Kuruhashi found Dionne and Canada was up a break, 2-1.
Both teams managed ensuing holds, but Canada’s felt decidedly more momentum-shifting. After a Canadian huck misfired, Thomas Edmonds took away the need to make a pass to score, reading Dylan Freechild’s popped-up swing best and snatching a callahan1 to level the scores at 3-3.
Canada’s offense started to look shaky. They were stuck in higher stall counts and tighter confines than they had been experiencing in other matches in Chengdu. The next USA break came after a turn from Jacobsohn, just after they looked to have tweaked their ankle, going deep to Malik Auger-Semmar. Kaela Helton, who was scorching in the contest with a trio of crisp assists, found Dawn Culton with a beautiful flick and the US was up 5-3.
Canada righted their ship and two drops in short succession on either side of half, one each for Freechild and Chastain, gave Canada desperately needed chances. Kuruhashi and Dionne took down catches from expansive throws to put them up 8-7, a big shift after going into the half on serve, but trailing 7-6.
The drama continued on the next point. Carolyn Finney had no options on a reset and Malcolm Bryson got a block. He sent the disc to Dionne in the end zone but she couldn’t reel in the catch at the back line. Another inch-perfect throw from Helton found Culton despite Malcolm Bryson’s pressure. Smothering US defense on the next point had Canada in trouble but Auger-Semmar bailed out a Lauren Kimura prayer at the back of the end zone for a 9-8 lead.
Finney tried to find Hayes at the back but just found Bryson. Gagan Chatha picked the disc up and ripped it, finding Molly Wedge just ahead of Groom and putting Canada up the break they had missed earlier, leading 10-8 going into the final heat break. The Americans looked like they might be on the ropes as their lack of a tidy and reliable offensive made it hard for them to build much rhythm. The chance for an American gold medal might have flashed before their eyes when Canada had another chance to break and reached the US goal line, but spectacular reset defense by Trop, cross-matched onto Chatha, forced a desperate throw that was intercepted by Marques Brownlee. Trop streaked the other way and Raphy Hayes launched it for a reviving hold.
Canada pushed their lead to 11-9 before the US held quickly and the pressure on Canada ramped up again. The offense worked up to the end zone and the defense solidified, bids coming from all over the field. Kimura dropped a short pass in the red zone and Helton found Henry Ing in the end zone. Tie game, 11-11, and we had a game to two for all the marbles.
The US dialed up the pressure with aggressive poaches that mimicked a zone from the restart and Edmonds found himself totally exposed. On a high stall he looked to the open side but Groom read it all the way and blocked it easily. Thompson connected with Groom and the USA led 12-11, roaring back from potentially facing an 11-8 deficit.
Canada again worked down to the end zone but Edmonds’ throw was cut off by Grant Lindsley laying out for a block. It was the fourth time Canada couldn’t execute on an end zone set. The US went deep but Dionne and Auger-Semmar combined for a phenomenal block. The latter sent it deep himself, but Freechild got a sensational block of his own on Bryson for the turn, reaching across with the left hand. Finney’s throw to an open Lindsley hit the turf though, and Wedge found Chatha to send the game to a universe point, 12-12. The tension was almost unbearable, so who knows how the players were feeling, aside from exhausted, which was readily apparent. That fatigue also likely influenced the final lineups, removing some of each team’s biggest names from the equation.
The US worked the disc downfield easily against the lagging Canadian defense, taking advantage of a risky defensive lunge that led to a blown assignment, and Thompson found Trop at the front of the end zone for the win. The Americans exploded with emotion, pushed right to their limit, and the Canadians collapsed to the ground in despair. An all-timer of a final was always going to deliver huge contrasts in emotions, but in the end the USA extended its streak to six World Games wins in a row.
This may well have been its most difficult final test in that run of success, with struggles on offense and other teams coming in as strong as ever. If there’s one thing this US group will be remembered for, though, it’s the fact that they were able to play better under pressure than anyone they came up against. Their defense was incredible and they always found a way, just as the USA always seems to. Extra congratulations to Finney, Kocher, Lindsley, and Freechild who all joined Hall-of-Famer Beau Kittredge as the only people with three World Games gold medals.
France Wins Another Bronze
The French wave of mixed success shows no sign of stopping soon as France topped Germany 13-10 to win bronze at the World Games, following up its bronzes in the mixed division at the World Ultimate Championships and the World Under-24 Championships, as well as a gold at the World Beach Ultimate Championships2.
The game was tight throughout and very clean, with the eventual three-point win the largest margin either team held. The first break came at 2-2, France taking advantage of a block by Simon Ruelle to take the lead through Leo Stanguennec’s throw to Chloe Ollivier.
Germany didn’t trail for long. Paul Herkens continued his excellent tournament with a layout block on Elliot Bonnet and Ava Mueller found David Metzger. Germany had a chance on the next point, but Paul Benvegnen made a catch hard for Nis-Julius Sontag and France held. The hold became even more notable after Stanguennec point-blocked Conrad Schloer on the next point and Gael Ancelin found Ruelle for another break to go up 5-4.
After the flurry of opportunities for both D-lines, the teams held cleanly to 9-8, until Germany hit back with a quick-strike goal for Herkens from Sontag after a miscommunication between Sacha Poitte-Sokolsky and Bonnet.
The scores now tied, Bonnet turned again on the next point. Hartley Greenwald’s throw was too long for Levke Walczak, though, and France held. Germany was making good progress on its next O point but was called back for a re-pull after Gael Ancelin noticed there were eight Germans on the field. Nico Muller turned after the restart, allowing Ancelin to find Ruelle for a huge break.
Germany gave it away again after a slip, but Schloer laid out to get the disc back and found Jakob Dieckmann for the score. Poitte-Sokolsky caught a goal from Bonnet to push France to the brink, 12-10 up.
The French weren’t waiting for long. Jakob Dieckmann turned on a deep throw and France worked down the field deliberately, Ancelin eventually finding Chloe Ollivier who fell to the field in tears. Germany finished fourth for the second World Games in a row, but France won its3 first medal at these games.
